Norway and the EU
Norway and the EU enjoy good and close relations, although Norway is not a member of the European Union. The Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) is the mainstay of our cooperation, and it ensures that Norway takes part in the EU internal market. We are also part of the Schengen Agreement and cooperate with the EU on foreign and security policy issues.
Through the EEA Agreement, the three EFTA states Norway, Iceland and Liechten-stein are equal partners in the EU internal market, on the same terms as the EU member states. Moreover, the Agreement also covers cooperation in other important areas such as research and development, education, social policy, the environment, consumer protection, tourism and culture. It also enables the three EEA EFTA states to participate in various EU programmes. Norway also participates in the activities of a number of EU agencies through provisions in the EEA Agreement or on the basis of bilateral agreements.
The BBC likes to come up with the alarmist scenario that on leaving the EU we will still be subject to their regulations on products if we want to export to them…..therefore we might as well stay in the EU….or on that logic we might as well be the 51st State……[never mind many rules and regulations are imposed due to world-wide trade or political agreements on subjects such as energy efficiency, climate and safety and will be imposed whether or not you are in the EU]
Want to export to the USA? Here’s some regulations you have to obey to do so……
8.3 Regulations
You should make sure you know which US regulations apply to your products or services and follow packaging and labelling requirements.
Some of the main US federal agencies are:
- Food and Drug Administration – food, drugs, medicines and cosmetics
- Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau – alcohol and tobacco
- Consumer Product Safety Commission – consumer products
- Federal Trade Commission – business practices
- US Fish and Wildlife Service – animal products
- Environmental Protection Agency – human health and environment
The USA.gov website has a full list of US federal agencies.
Check the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to find out what standards apply. The NIST works with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements and standards.
Those damnable Yankees imposing rules and regulations upon businessmen who want to export to the good ole US of A…..listen to the BBC burbling on about the marvels of the EU and the dangers of being out of, or is that in, the EU and you’d never know that the US and all other countries impose stringent conditons upon those who want to export to their countries….if you listen to the BBC the only way to succeed in business is to join the EU for regulation free business….it is regulation free isn’t it?
The BBC’s message is very confused….the EU is great but it imposes regulations that are a nightmare.
Apparently if you are in the EU life for a businessman is a bed of roses…no regulations, no tariffs, no rules or nuffink…..great….oh hang on….if you’re a slinking curr on the outskirts of the great and fabulous EU, like Norway for instance, and you rather tentatively dip your toe into the EU’s waters then you will still be subject to a tsunami of regulations and rules that the EU imposes upon its own businesses….er…..er….what? So at one moment the BBC tells us life will be fantastic for all businessmen if they are in the EU…..but if you’re not fully committed you will still be subject to those fabulous regulations that EU businessmen so enjoy and which makes the EU such a good place to be a member of, however you will suffer under them. That makes a lot of sense…to the BBC, in particular to one BBC journalist…Jonty Bloom, who tells us that if you’re not fully in the EU you’re living a nightmare…..
The business woke up to a nightmare….half of Osos products useless or unsellable.
I first caught Jonty’s jaunty little babble about the EU on FOOC and thought that it was such a one-sided, pro-Europe piece of propaganda I’d have to look further. Apparently the FOOC piece was a mere taster for the full-on indigestible tripe that Bloom would try to force feed us later on.
It was indeed just a foretaster for a much longer programme, but one no more rounded or informative, on the subject of Norway and its relationship with the EU….unfortunately it seemed that Bloom’s aim was political, to persuade us that doing a ‘Norway’ and remaining out of the EU was a bad idea rather than a rounded and intelligent, and accurate, honest, look at not just the Norwegian option but all other options as to how the UK could shape the way it deals with the EU……such as Switzerland..
Switzerland is neither an EU nor EEA member but is part of the single market
Or, shock horror, perhaps just leave altogether.
Bloom has other ideas in this programme….
Norway’s European Vision
Norway isn’t a member of the European Union, but does business with the EU. Is it a model for other countries? Jonty Bloom speaks to people working in a range of businesses – including Norway’s vital fishing industry – and asks about the advantages and disadvantages of the arrangement.
Bloom also had a write up on the website…….
How does Norway’s relationship with the EU work?
There is not going to be a referendum on joining the European Union in Norway anytime soon, not least because the polls show that up to 85% would vote against joining.
Despite telling us that 85% would vote against joining the EU Bloom brings us the views of two supposedly pro-EU businessmen…..the first a fisherman….which is dishonest in itself as Norway is a member of the EEA, the rules of which do not govern fishing and agriculture and so don’t relate to, or rather negates, this narrative from Bloom that being part of the European Economic Area means you are subject to all of Europe’s rules.
Bloom then goes to a boiler manufacturer whose travails are solely, we are told, due to being suddenly subject to the EU rules on energy efficiency…again, funny how EU rules are a burden and yet the EU is a good thing when it suits.
OSO Hotwater is a maker of central heating boilers just outside Oslo, and a few years ago it woke up to a nightmare. Overnight it discovered that the EU was introducing new environmental and energy efficiency standards that favoured gas powered boilers over electric ones.
As OSO’s boss Sigurd Braathen told me he did the calculations and realised that half of Oso’s products would soon be useless: unsaleable.
Now, as Norway is not a member of the EU, it has no say over these or any other EU rules. It can lobby against them, but it does not sit round the table when they are proposed, discussed, amended, debated, or voted into law.
In theory it has a veto over any legislation but it has never used it, and the consequences of using the veto could be huge.
Curiously, or not, that wasn’t what Bloom wrote originally….this is what he told us on first draft..
It [Norway] most certainly does not have a veto over any legislation and yet the consequences can be huge.
Bloom was clearly ridiculed for that mistake, ignorant piece of reporting, complete lie, take your pick, by various commentators and he rewrote his piece…however it is still highly misleading.
Bloom then goes on to explain why being in the EEA means you are still subject to all EU rules and, his main point, that you have no say in how those rules are drawn up……
New machinery and robots that were needed to install better insulation onto the boilers — in all it has cost the company £5m of extra investment.
Now you may be wondering why, with a large domestic market, OSO did not just turn its back on the European Union and its new rules and ignore them. The answer is that it can’t.
This is a key factor of the Norwegian model; Norway is not in the EU, but it is in the European Economic Area (EEA), and technically it is as much a part of the single market as France, Germany or the UK.
As Sigurd told me: “The legislation came from the EU and it was implemented in Norway without any alterations to the way we would have liked it to be.
“It is implemented in Norway in exactly the same way as the rest of the EU and we can get no exceptions and no adaptations to Norwegian conditions. We have difficulties making alterations to any of the legislation we are getting.”
OSO and many other companies in Norway have to follow the rules of the single market even if they have never exported so much as a single widget to the European Union.
That is just one of the costs of Norway’s non-membership of the EU.
It does a higher percentage of its trade with the EU than we in the UK do, in fact more than the vast majority of EU members do.
But it pays hundreds of millions of pounds a year for the right to do that and has to accept all the rules and regulations without a say in how they are made.
So Norway has no influence on EU regulations and rules that effect it?
Influencing the EU – EEA Decision Shaping
Decision shaping is the phase of preparatory work undertaken by the European Commission to draw up new legislative proposals. The EEA Agreement contains provisions for input from the EEA EFTA side at various stages before new legislation is adopted.
Bloom wrote..[Norway] ‘can lobby against them, but it does not sit round the table when they are proposed, discussed, amended, debated, or voted into law.’
Not true at all…..Norway has little but not absolutely no say in the decision as to whether the regulations would actually be made law but it has a huge say in how they are drawn up…..
During the decision-making process on the EU side, the EEA EFTA States have little or no formal opportunity to influence the Council or the EP. This is very different from the pre-pipeline or preparatory stage, where the EEA EFTA States take an active part in the decision shaping of EEA legislation.
Once an EC act has gone through the EC procedures and been adopted, the desk officer in the EFTA Secretariat responsible for that area prepares a standard sheet concerning that particular act. The standard sheet is a form which records all references and vital information about the act in question. EFTA experts in the capitals must answer a number of questions, such as whether the act is EEA-relevant, whether it will require technical adaptations for implementation in the EEA EFTA States, and whether it is likely to have constitutional requirements
The contracting parties have not transferred any legislative powers to the EEA Joint Committee. It has therefore been necessary to regulate the situation in which, according to their constitutions, an EEA JCD can only be binding on one or the other contracting party after it has been approved by parliament or by referendum……an EEA JCD can only be binding on one or the other contracting party after it has been approved by parliament or by referendum.
Decisions that have budgetary implications for more than one year will in principle need parliamentary consent in Norway.
So any new laws have to be approved by the Norwegian parliament or by a referendum….so much for no veto and no say.
And what else tells us that Norway has a huge say in any new regulations?…..
The EEA institutions
Substantive decisions relating to the EEA Agreement are a joint venture between the EEA EFTA states and the EU. Common bodies, such as the EEA Council and the EEA Joint Committee, have been established to administer the EEA Agreement.Can the EEA Agreement be amended?
The EEA Agreement is dynamic in character. This means that it is continuously updated and amended to incorporate new internal market legislation in order to maintain common rules across the EEA.
Any other consultations?…..
There are approximately 1 000 national experts seconded to the European Commission from the 28 EU Member States, the EFTA States and other countries. See the full list and contact details of the EEA EFTA national experts in this section.
The aim of the arrangement is to supply the Commission with expertise that is not available internally and to be a tool for the European Union to increase and spread knowledge of the European institutions and decision-making process.
When preparing implementing measures and the working plan, the Commission should consult Member States’ representatives as well as interested parties concerned with the product group, such as industry, including SMEs and craft industry, trade unions, traders, retailers, importers, environmental protection groups and consumer organisations.
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How about this? |
Commission committees
In addition to the meetings with experts mentioned above, EEA EFTA State representatives have access to the following types of Commission committees in the policy-shaping phase: comitology committees (Article 100 EEA), programme committees (Article 81 EEA) and other committees in very specific areas (Article 101 EEA).
And on energy policy?….
The EU Energy Policy and the EEA
Underlines the importance of Norway as a major supplier of energy to the EU, resulting in more than half of the EU supplies being produced within the European Economic Area; highlights the importance of a regular energy dialogue between the EU and Norway
The Danish Energy Agency and the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) both provide input to the EU legislative processes for more eco-friendly design and the energy labelling of products. Since 2007, Viegand Maagøe has led and participated in an expert consortium that provides technical assistance in EU negotiations on future legal requirements for products. We have worked to promote Danish and Norwegian interests in the EU and have contributed to promoting ambitious energy requirements for products.
And just how important is the EU market on the scale of things?…….
Agreements
Over the next ten to 15 years, 90% of world demand will be generated outside Europe. That is why it is a key priority for the EU to tap into this growth potential by opening up market opportunities for European businesses abroad. One way of ensuring this is through negotiating agreements with our key partners.
EU trade negotiations
The EU has successfully concluded a number of important trade agreements with trading partners and is in the process of negotiating agreements with many more.
Does Norway participate actively in policy debates with the EU?……yes of course….
Norway–EU cooperation at political level
Norway and the EU share the same fundamental values, and face many of the same challenges. Close cooperation at political level is essential to find joint solutions to these challenges.
The EEA and other agreements with the EU shape domestic policies at most levels and in most areas of Norwegian society. It is therefore in our national interest to cooperate closely with the EU and to participate actively in policy debates at European level. In this way, Norway seeks to promote its interests and to contribute to a positive development in Europe.
How about the Norwegian ‘Mission to the EU’? Does that have a reason for its existence?…..
Mission of Norway to the European Union
The Mission of Norway to the European Union plays an essential role in the development and implementation of Norway’s policy on Europe. The Mission is also an important centre of expertise on EU and EEA affairs for the Norwegian public administration.
All Norwegian ministries are represented at the Mission, reflecting the broad scope of Norway’s relations with the EU. The Mission has a staff of around 60, of which two thirds are diplomats.
Some of the Mission’s main tasks are to:
- Represent the Norwegian Government in Brussels and promote the Government’s policies and positions vis-à-vis the European Union
- Identify at the earliest stage possible issues related to the EEA and Schengen cooperation that are of political or economic importance to Norway
- Safeguard Norwegian interests in negotiations with the European Commission, the European External Action Service and the Council of the European Union in areas covered by the EEA and Schengen agreements
- Work closely with the EU institutions on the further development of the
Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy- Increase awareness of Norway’s close ties with the EU, in particular our participation in the internal market.
So it…Represents the Norwegian Government in Brussels and promote the Government’s policies and positions vis-à-vis the European Union and safeguards Norwegian interests in negotiations with the European Commission…I’m guessing they actually speak at these meetings.
Just how much influence might Norway have?…….quite a lot you’d think…..
- Norway is the EU’s 5th most important import partner for trade in goods, after China, Russia, USA and Switzerland and the 7th export market for the EU, after the USA, China, Switzerland, Russia, Turkey and Japan.
- Norway’s trade with the EU shows a surplus. Norway’s trade flows have traditionally been dominated by trade with the EU, and this trend is being enhanced after the latest EU enlargements.
- The EU remains the first major import and export partner for Norway, capturing 74.3% of the latter’s trade.
Interesting that non-aligned Switzerland is ahead of Norway. Just how many cuckoo clocks does Europe need?
Any sign of Norwegian diplomacy in action in the EU?……
Never before have so many Norwegian Government ministers visited Greece than during these last months.
Just in the period between late April and mid-May, eight ministers have participated in the EU’s informal ministerial meetings in Athens. This is an expression of the emphasis the Norwegian Government places on the close relationship and dialogue with the EU and European countries.
For a country that’s not a member of the EU it seems they are allowed a great deal of say in how things are run….not the narrative Bloom and the BBC has been selling us at all.
It took no time at all to Google [tax free] Norway’s influence over policy and regulation making decisions….why did a BBC journalist with all those resources and time behind him not come up with the answers?
The only possibility is because he didn’t want to give us the truth and was solely intent on selling us a ‘nightmare scenario’, ironically, of still being subject to the EU but having no influence over it…a narrative that is demonstrably false.
Trust chair Rona Fairhead says the corporation is treating issue with ‘urgency’ and underlines that staff are receiving training to prevent bias
So much for the BBC having trained its journalists to report in the EU and the referendum accurately and impartially….as others have noted…
The Truth, The BBC and the EEA
EU Referendum: BBC – the enemy without
Another pack of BBC lies
Can’t be any clearer about the BBC’s dishonesty can we?…oh hang on…Bloom’s in the clear….the BBC hasn’t decided what ‘impartial…accurate….honest…balanced‘ mean yet..they’re having a consultation about that…the result due in February….when the referendum could be held in June….
The BBC Trust is today [ 20.11.2015 ] launching an eight week consultation asking for views on a set of referendum guidelines and a set of election guidelines which will assist BBC journalists and content producers reporting on both the European Union membership referendum and on elections due to take place next May.
We anticipate that the final guidelines for the referendum and for the May 2016 elections will be published in February 2016.
Carry on regardless then Jonty.
If we were given the chance of belonging to the ‘Common market’ only and without all the political garbage I think most would vote for that.
A simple trading agreement between nations is good, being ruled by them is very very bad.
Yet despite all the arcane and labyrinthine regulations which are supposed to be obeyed by British firms, shiploads of dangerous and sometimes lethal crap are allowed in from China.
The BBC have asked the question (but only on their socialist sneering The Now Show ) how can Britian untangle itself from the EU after forty years of being enmeshed into it , but don’t ask the Scot Nat Socialists how they can untangle themselves after 300 years of partnership in the UK .
What isn’t mentioned is that Norway has seats on UN committees that often set the agenda that the EU Commission follows,
e.g. World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations.
Lord Rose-tinted’s outing on the PR channel seems to have gone about as well as his barrer-boy ones on Breakfast Business being allowed to hijack market insight to flog Marks and Sparks’ biddyware.
I think the BBC have the whole EU argument ass backwards.
If we vote to remain in a reformed EU, we will have less and less say in how the EU is run, yet still be subject to being in the political Union. As I understand it, not one single line of the Lisbon Treaty will be changed based on our “reform”. If we vote to remain, then the rest of the EU will breathe a huge sigh of relief, knowing we will not bring down their political project, and they will be able to continue to ignore us with impunity.
If we vote to leave, THEN we regain control over our trade internationally with the 90%+ of consumers worldwide, whilst maintaining trading links with the EU (As WTO rules demand).